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 HEALTH & ILLNESSES
(A Filipino Perspective)

UNDERSTANDING CULTURE, SOCIETY, & POLITICS

CORE SUBJECT
1ST SEMESTER
What is Health?
HEALTH Is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not
merely the absence of disease or infirmity. The enjoyment of the highest
attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human
being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social
condition. (WHO)

Every culture has shared concept of what is good health. Societies differ in what
they consider healthy and unhealthy, and every society has its own patterns of
health, disease, illness treatment, and coping mechanisms.
What is the difference of traditional and alternative
medicine?
A. TRADITIONAL MEDICINE
The sum total of the knowledge, skills, and practices based on the theories,
beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or
not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in prevention, diagnosis,
improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness.
B. ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
A broad set of health care practices that are not part of that country’s own
tradition and are not integrated to the dominant health care system.
What are some health syndromes that Filipinos
attribute to their culture?
1. USOG/BUYAG
A greeting that causes malady to a person. It has been said that when one has been
greeted or complimented by famished person, the former will experience sudden
discomfort, usually in his/her abdomen.
2. KULAM, BARANG, & SAPI
Sickness is also often associated with supernatural forces. A person’s illness may be
regarded as a spell from a dark force that he/she may have harmed or agitated.
3. LIHI
The strong and obsessive craving of a pregnant woman for a particular food which
can result in her child resembling the food she has craved for.
What are some health syndromes that Filipinos
attribute to their culture?
4. PASMA
An illness where a person experiences hand tremors, sweaty palms, numbness,
and pains. It is believed to be caused by exposure to cold elements after
engaging in a heated environment or activity.
5. BUGHAT/BINAT
is the term used to refer to the ailments (headache, chills, body pains, dizziness,
muscle weakness and in some it is blindness)
6. KALOOB NG DIYOS
Who are the primary practitioners of traditional
medicine in the Philippines?
1. MANGHIHILOT
A traditional midwife or massage therapist who treats muscle pains and assists childbirths.
2. ALBULARYO/MANANAMBAL/TAMBALAN
A traditional healer who uses various healing means like prayers, incantations, mysticism, and herbalism,
and is believed to possess supernatural powers.
3. MEDICO
An albularyo who integrates his/her little knowledge of contemporary medicine in healing.
4. FAITH HEALER
A healer who claims the he/she is bestowed with divine power by God to heal patients with strong faith in
God.
5. EXORCIST
A priest (usually Catholic) specially ordained to evict spiritual entities out of a person.
Which of the mentioned culture-related health syndromes
do you or any of your family members believe at home?

How do you think these practices mirror the

Filipino culture?

What is your personal opinion regarding these

practices?
What is the perspective of Structural Functionalism
on Health and Illness?
Good health and effective medical care are essential for the smooth functioning
of society. Patients must perform the “sick role” in order to be perceived as
legitimately ill and to be exempt from their normal obligations. The physician-
patient relationship is hierarchical: The physician provides instructions, and the
patient needs to follow them.
What is the perspective of Conflict Theory on
Health and Illness?
Social inequality characterizes the quality of health and the quality of health
care. People from disadvantaged social backgrounds are more likely to become
ill and to receive inadequate health care. Partly to increase their incomes,
physicians have tried to control the practice of medicine and to define social
problems as medical problems.
What is the perspective of Symbolic Interactionism
on Health and Illness?
Health and illness are social constructions: Physical and mental conditions have
little or no objective reality but instead are considered healthy or ill conditions
only if they are defined as such by a society. Physicians “manage the situation”
to display their authority and medical knowledge.
What are the different issues in Health Care?
a. Access to medical care not as a matter of right but as a commodity.
b. Two-tier system of medical care refers to a system of medical care in which
wealthy receive superior medical care and the poor inferior medical care.
c. Malpractice lawsuits and defensive medicine or medical practices done not
for the patient’s benefit but in order to protect a physician from a malpractice
suits.
d. Medical incompetence
e. Medical fraud
Health as a HUMAN RIGHT
• The human right to health means that everyone has the right to the highest
attainable standard of physical and mental health, which includes access to all
medical services, sanitation, adequate food, decent housing, healthy working
conditions, and a clean environment.
• Access to health care must be universal, guaranteed for all on an equitable
basis.
• Adequate health care infrastructure like hospitals, community health facilities,
trained health professionals must be available in all geographical areas and to
all communities.
Thank you!